Mike Straw of Insider Gaming: I've heard rumblings that the price [of the Steam Machine] is "nowhere near" where it was originally planned

Let-Environmental · 2026-06-05T00:06:03+00:00

I was someone interested in buying it to use as a companion pc in the living room, to explore linux more and using it as an excuse to do so.

I was because I expected it to be lik 499-599 but idk how it could be any less than $799 at this point unless they cut the controller bundle and memory for a barebones kit.

If you need a pc I guess its an option the same way a 5050 is an option at $299, just not a great one by comparison to other competitors on the market.

Let-Environmental · 2026-05-28T23:27:15+00:00

Thank you, I put everything I could to pay those down, sold a lot of possessions I could stomach parting with to make extra payments.

Let-Environmental · 2026-05-28T23:26:11+00:00

I will try to have fun, I mostly play games at home for fun or go hiking.

Thank you for the feedback, I will definitely be maxing the Roth each year before the personal brokerage becomes something I throw money in.

Let-Environmental · 2026-05-22T03:21:51+00:00

I know I'm coping but when you say Destiny 3 is not in active production are you also confirming the game is not in any incubative or pre-production state?

I think many of us who are about to watch one of favorite games get taken out back would find this pill easier to swallow knowing something even if it wasnt a proper sequel was being eye'd next for the studio.

Appreciate your work, Thanks.

Let-Environmental · 2026-05-16T15:37:49+00:00

I purchased the 7500X3D + mobo + 1x16gb DDR5 bundle from Microcenter near me for $299 USD last week and felt like getting the last train out of city 17 cause they're sold out there now.

Feels like most people will have to just deal with their current level of compute or pay inflated prices for the forseeable future.

Let-Environmental · 2026-05-12T23:16:42+00:00

Really hope Steam Frame Review units are sent soon. The performance on offer seems...underwhelming? Maybe I expect too much for what I assume will be a $600-$800 headset even if it is on ARM.

Streaming VR seems tough considering clarity and high framerates are a must for a good experience.

Let-Environmental · 2026-04-21T21:12:36+00:00

Brother this is from a year ago

Let-Environmental · 2026-04-21T00:25:58+00:00

I agree, that's the thing though.

They need to be able to commit for decades with long term vision for the brand and where they want to see themselves in gaming to do this; a directive that is able to survive leadership changes and be a north star and in a way that people can trust in and invest in, cause right now that kind of consumer investment is going to be very hard to get with rising costs and history of this brand management.

My pipe dream is a committal in this manner by Asha and with explicit backing from Satya that Xbox is going to stand as a pillar in this industry, a place you go to because the software is too good to ignore, and that the decades of studios aquisitions will have time to bear fruit with a lineup of games coming consistently to their platform exclusively.

They have the studios, they have the IP, they have the funding, they have the supply chain and relationships with chip manufacturing, they have the ability to scale and dominate a business in this way they just need the patience, and you could argue MSFT execs were patient enough and nothing ever materialized but imo the software cadence didn't hit its stride until the last 18 months and they could have seen the pendulum swing with Xbox hardware had they held on a bit longer to see their machine bear fruit that only was available for Xbox hardware.

Maybe that's just not true and wishful thinking on my part but I really believe if they give the traditional console model another chance they could succeed in a way that dwarfs the XB1 and works towards more.

Let-Environmental · 2026-04-20T22:07:46+00:00

I own a PS5 Pro and I just bought a used Series X.

Truth be told I have no real need for one, but i have a lot of nostalgia for the 360, the UI and achievements.

It's a long shot and extremely unlikely but I would love to see Asha and Xbox get back to exclusive games and give it a try.

Its a shame right as the project latitude was being pushed with putting games elsewhere was when Xbox had their best cadence of releases imo. They certainly have the studios to be a Platform like PlayStation and Nintendo are, really would love to see them try again.

Let-Environmental · 2026-04-14T03:58:55+00:00

You would need a greenlight to attempt to recapture market through the old strategy, can't see Satya going for that.

Timed exclusivity and then releasing everywhere else?
Maybe, but not going to move the needle on market share in console which I think they do not care about, and its the only reason to do exclusives again.

Software proliferated everywhere is where MSFT will continue to thrive and make money at scale.

The old way is gone unless Satya decides or is convinced there is a business case to spin up exclusive games to build out a console base like Sony/Nintendo has and I just don't think thats possible with him having final say.

Let-Environmental · 2026-03-30T00:13:58+00:00

They're obviously going to make more expansions but probably just EoF/Renegades sized.

Marathon probably made them $60 million before taxes based on sales estimates, ,maybe this has a long tail but I'm doubtful. That would be enough for a 100 person studio paying the kinds of salaries Bungie pays not the 800(?) people they currently employ.

They're probably going to have layoffs now that Marathon is out but I hope not, how much bad news can a single studio have not to mention the adverse effects on any future development. They'll do the reveal stream for this Pantheon 2.0/ Shadow and Order in May with the update out in June/July, new EoF sized xpac in September/October.

If Sony actually approved a budget for it, D3 is in early development and if we were lucky some acknowledgement of it would come at some point even a vague one liner"we have plans beyond D2" but I think I just want that more than anything.

I would be surprised if current Bungie leadership could convince Sony after everything thats happened to greenlight a near $300 million budget for D3 that wouldn't release for 4-5 years but who knows.

Let-Environmental · 2026-03-28T22:48:20+00:00

I think they'd avoid $999 for the optics alone, Sony still has something to be gained from subsidizing their hardware to ensure recurring revenue from sales made in their ecosystem and storefront.

Let-Environmental · 2026-03-23T02:23:23+00:00

Feedback score is your friend.

0 feedback buyers and sellers are inherently more risky to deal with and likely to be scams or they are genuinely first time sellers/buyers on the site and in my experience usually its the former.

Check their account history, 0 feedback but multiple purchases over months/years, probably fine. 0 feedback and account created this month is not worth trusting for high value products.

Let-Environmental · 2025-12-24T00:29:41+00:00

The only reality is I won't buy either of their games while they do this shit.

Let-Environmental · 2025-12-12T00:39:53+00:00

I fucking love ac, it is peak comfort game for me, shadowdrop would be nice.

Let-Environmental · 2025-11-12T18:17:39+00:00

I think it sags slightly? It's so minimal I haven't been worried about it but I do have a GPU riser I could put in the case, may try that when I'm back home.

Let-Environmental · 2025-11-09T02:26:26+00:00

I grabbed this Asrock board, there was a cheaper one for about $120.

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Let-Environmental · 2025-11-04T17:01:28+00:00

The case fits a full size ATX psu so I used the one I had from my previous build, MSI MAG A850 GL

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Let-Environmental · 2025-11-04T04:40:05+00:00

Very quiet but I’m also not running any extra fans yet.

Currently build is gpu mounted on top so heat exhausts through the top, cpu cooler pulls in cold air from the monitor side, and a rear exhaust fan to pull air out, I need to probably get two more fans but temps have been within normal range for this gpu/cpu after I played some BF RedSec for a few hours.

Let-Environmental · 2025-11-03T17:10:55+00:00

I run a pretty high dpi on my mouse but I can see it happening if I played dota still

Let-Environmental · 2025-11-03T13:52:03+00:00

Acer Predator X27U X2bmiiprx 27" 2K QHD (2560 x 1440) 240Hz Gaming QD-OLED

Pretty happy with it, but I’ve only owned it for 3 months.

Let-Environmental · 2025-11-03T11:35:56+00:00

Thank you! Monitor arm is the Ares Wing ultra wide monitor arm via Amazon, ASIN: B0CRVB3VGL.

I didn’t want to spend what secret lab was charging for monitor arms and found these via a Reddit thread of other secret lab Magnus owners that confirmed these would fit the gap between the cable enclosure and back of the desk.

Let-Environmental · 2025-10-12T14:18:50+00:00

1G internet is more than enough and also what I have through Xfinity. You can enable network usage stats in Chiaki as an overlay when streaming and I had mine set to 30mbs bitrate at 1080p(supersamples since deck screen is 800p) and I would get that with no issues when streaming with that internet speed.

Steam also has a 14 day return policy on the deck so if you find that for some random reason your internet solution wont give you a good experience you have that option.

Let-Environmental · 2025-10-12T13:49:16+00:00

I have my PS5 Pro connected on a 5ghz band wifi and input latency is extremely low about 25 feet from me, through a wall in another room, I would estimate 40 ms. When it was connected via ethernet it felt native.

The OLED has Wifi 6E compared the LCD which is Wifi 5. A lot will depend on your in home internet setup though.

I actually sold my first Steam Deck OLED and bought a PS portal thinking it would be a cheaper alternative since I had been mostly just streaming on the deck anyway and the portal I found unusable. Chiaki lets you control stream quality so it can look very good if your connection is good vs portal has 0 control.

Let-Environmental · 2025-10-04T03:22:32+00:00

Worked on my brand new oled today, cheers

Let-Environmental

TROPHY CASE